In July, Syrian rebel lobbyists reported that the Obama Administration had told them they would not be able to intervene in a serious way until after the November election. The vote’s over and now the meddling can begin in earnest.

That’s the message from US officials tonight, who say the president is now considering several options for deeper intervention into the ever worsening civil war, including the possibility of directly arming certain rebel factions.

Those aren't rebels. They are terrorists. Bashar Al-Assad is the only reason the middle east hasn't erupted into total war for the past decades. If Bashar falls, so does the rest of the middle east. the only civilized countries left would be Turkey and Israel

I'm pretty sure this has happened already, the US state department has backed the rebels since Day one. even though al-Qaeda back the rebels too...

the rebels continue to use terrorist tactics to overthrow the government and when Assad kills the terrorists western media spins it as civilian deaths.

but hey it's ok for Israel but not Syria right....

Assad has been re-elected since the uprising, by the people of Syria, the 22,000,000 that the media fail to account for on a daily basis, he has given all concessions required or demanded from the Arab uprising.

the FSA failed to put a political party together for a peaceful opposition to Assad, so instead the barely 100,000 strong militia, defectors and terrorists called the FSA (Free Syrian Army) are using violence to overthrow Assad.

imagine if there was a (Free America Army) using elements of al-Qaeda to overthrow Obama, how long would that last...??

anyway, if you read the following thread you will learn that this is all pro-Zionist pro NWO horseshit, pardon the language...

Persian Gulf Arab States Send Thousands of Convicts to Syria to Help Rebels

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iraqi media disclosed on Wednesday that Persian Gulf Arab states have released and sent 3,800 of their death convicts to Syria to join the armed campaign against President Bashar a-Assad's government.

Something may be up in Syria (beyond the normal) - Could be this is a move by the Assad regime in preparation for a big counter-offensive or someone outside of Syria has shut them down -

Starting at 10:26 UTC (12:26pm in Damascus), Syria's international Internet connectivity shut down. In the global routing table, all 84 of Syria's IP address blocks have become unreachable, effectively removing the country from the Internet.

We are investigating the dynamics of the outage and will post updates as they become available.

1359 GMT: BREAKING: According to LBCI News, "Emirates airlines suspends its flights to Damascus until further notice."

To be clear, while some may look at this as a political issue, framing it in a political battle between the Gulf States and Syria, it is likely far more significant - with rumors that the FSA has been attacking Assad positions near the Damascus International Airport off and on for days, it's likely that safety, not politics, is the reason for this disruption in service.

If other airlines follow suit, it could signal that these airlines believe the airport may be a site of a military battle in the following days.

There are more signs that normalcy has been significantly disrupted in Damascus. Despite all the violence, and the sanctions, Damascus has become the business hub of the country, especially since Aleppo has been so heavily disrupted. Today, there are many reports that internet and cell service have been disrupted:

Razan Ghazzawi @RedRazan Internet is still cut in most areas in Damascus & its suburbs since 12:30 PM today 29-11-2012 #Syria

29 Nov 12

Did the government cut the internet and cell networks? If so, this is a sign that the government is putting the capital into an emergency footing.

1315 GMT: NATO is set to make a decision as early as next week as to whether Patriot missiles will be deployed to Turkey's border with Syria. While Patriot missiles alone cannot properly establish a total no-fly zone of even areas in the north of Syria, they have proven effective against aircraft before - because as recently as 2003, they have accidentally been used to shoot down friendly aircraft. For whatever reason, the media keeps dismissing the Patriot missile as purely anti-ballistic weapons technology, despite the fact that they were originally designed to shoot down aircraft.

Regardless, without jet-fighter patrols, even a partial no-fly zone will be somewhat ineffective. However, the real question is that with Patriots deployed to the other side of the border, and with the FSA having proven it can effectively use shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons, will this move deter the Syrian airforce from operating near the Turkish border?

Possibly - in fact, until this week, the Syrian airforce appeared afraid to fly too close to the border out of consideration that Turkey may fire on their planes. Now, with Assad's military foundering, the Assad airforce appears to be recalculating. The bombing of the olive press factory, just miles from Turkey, several days ago is the strongest evidence of this. Will Assad recalculate again with NATO Patriots just a few kilometers from his flight path?

In July, Syrian rebel lobbyists reported that the Obama Administration had told them they would not be able to intervene in a serious way until after the November election. The vote’s over and now the meddling can begin in earnest.

That’s the message from US officials tonight, who say the president is now considering several options for deeper intervention into the ever worsening civil war, including the possibility of directly arming certain rebel factions.

Am completely astonished at how those who claim that bringing democracy to the masses in the ME will give them peace and freedom! Nothing could be further from the TRUTH and the proof of this is SELF-EVIDENT!